Samsung Việt Nam announced to recall Galaxy Note7 to ensure customers' benefits and safety. — Photo thegioididong.com

HÀ NỘI — Samsung Việt Nam yesterday officially announced it was recalling its Galaxy Note7 smartphone after reports of the device catching fire while charging.

The decision to withdraw the product from the market confirmed Samsung’s commitment to accord customers’ benefits and safety top priority, the company said. Samsung also recommended smartphone users turn off and stop using the device.

Accordingly, Samsung will recall the product and pay VNĐ18.99 milion (US$844) to each Galaxy Note7 buyer from October 18 to November 18.

Galaxy Note7 owners should bring their products and their identification card or passport to any Samsung guarantee centre nationwide or call the free hotline 1800 588 889 to get their money back.

In addition, Samsung is also offering a VNĐ1.5 million voucher to each customer to buy new Samsung products. Customers can borrow another Samsung smartphone for temporary use if they have not bought another phone yet.

The dramatic warning came in the form of a written statement issued a little over a month after the world’s largest smartphone maker announced a global recall of 2.5 million Note7s in 10 markets following complaints that its lithium-ion battery exploded while charging.

Exports to fall

As one of the Samsung’s biggest production centres, Viet Nam is  expected to be affected by the massive recall as the country has supplied around 35 per cent of the producer’s mobile phones around the world.

Việt Nam’s export turnover would be directly affected by the recall.

Baodautu.vn cited figures from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showing that the country’s export turnover in August surged 5.9 per cent, equivalent to $896 million, while in September it was reduced by 6.8 per cent, equivalent to $1.1 billion. One of the reasons was due to export of Samsung Galaxy Note7 models.

The GSO said the launch of the product in August had led to a hike in export turnover. In September, the halt of Samsung Galaxy Note7 affected the export turnover. Exports of mobile phones and accessories were reduced by $506 million last month.

Former Minister of Planning and Investment, Professor Nguyen Mai, told the newspaper that the affect would not be too dramatic as the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is only one of several products from the huge manufacturer. However, it was also slated as Samsung’s key product.

The decrease in export turnover would contribute to making the year’s target of 10 per cent growth more difficult to achieve, especially as the country’s growth rate in the first nine months was 6.7 per cent.

Việt Nam’s export growth has been dependent on Samsung since its operations began in the country in 2009. Samsung contributes up to 20 per cent of the country’s total export turnover. Last year, Samsung Việt Nam shipped $32.78 billion. The figure this year is expected to be $34.4 billion.

Maij said Samsung Việt Nam had no plan to cut the jobs in Viet Nam. He said the firm not only produced smartphones and tablets in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces but also refrigerators and washing machines in HCM City. Big firms like Samsung  would have solutions to regain customers’ trust, he added. — VNS